Enhancing Customer Experience Requires IT Support

Nearly every organization knows that it derives business value from improving the way it engages with customers, regardless of whether that interaction takes place online, over the phone or in person. However, only a minority of executives say their company is actually achieving optimal levels of customer experience, according to a recent survey from the Temkin Group. But that's starting to change, as more companies plan to make significant improvements in their relationships with customers—from online to mobile to social media interactions. This is where IT comes in, as senior leadership will require tech know-how and support to purchase and deploy the best customer experience management (CEM) solutions to meet these challenges. At the very least, companies that lead the pack in positive customer service levels are planning to boost resources for analytics and other tech-driven initiatives. "We're seeing a surge in customer experience activities," says Bruce Temkin, managing partner at the Temkin Group. "More executives are recognizing the link between customer experience and loyalty, which is leading to more investments in 2014." More than 150 executives from large companies took part in the research.

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Underwhelming Performance

Only one-third of executives say their level of customer experience is better than "slightly above average" for their industry; 15% say it's slightly or considerably below average.